My Dublin Life

I usually eat in college (cheap food and not bad) but today I made myself a sandwich at home and took some time to try out the new bicycle scheme they've got going. I had noticed these heavy, solid looking bikes around the city. Apparently, Dublin is the latest in a series of European cities to have them. It's kind of a cool idea and I enjoyed cycling around though i was a little nervous because I'm not that used to cycling in the city and the double decker buses can be a little unnerving. I stuck to the places with cycle tracks and made it down the river to the Garden of Remembrance where I had a quick snack and then went back.

Could this be the start of a new, healthier me?



The more mean-spirited among you might point out that the Garden of remembrance is ooooh about .3 of a kilometre away from Trinity College, but that's not the point. It was the first time I'd been cycling for a while, so I was practicing. Nice spot, though. I don't usually like these war-memorial thingies but this one doesn't have unknown soldiers or anything but a very beautiful sculpture of the Children of Lir, which refers to (thank you Wikipedia)an ancient Irish story about three children who were turned to swans by their evil stepmother. Gorgeous. The statue is abut the moment when they were turning back into people after hundreds of years.

Well, I sat there with my rather soggy sandwich (no butter, trying to lose weight) and just looked at all the people coming and going. Some old folks resting their legs, an African mom plaiting her kid's hair and talking to the old folks, a couple of Irish moms with red-haired toddlers, a guilty-looking teen who I guess should've been at school, a business man furtively reading a Danielle Steele novel and a few students with books. All in all, not a bad sampler of Dublin life and it's nice to have a little oasis of calm in the middle of the city. Although it was very Irish there was also a bit of a Japanese-garden vibe to the whole thing.

Back at work, so there's not a lot of news to report. Despite my efforts, I haven't managed to bump into the gorgeous PhD student...

I am gonna have to have my nose to the grindstone for the next little while so hopefully that won't curtail going out too much. I did manage to pop out at lunchtime today to a show at the National Art Gallery. It's of Munch...you know, the guy who painted Scream? He's so famous, even I had heard of him.



While the show was great, I can't say it was a pick-me-up. Buddy must've had some pretty serious issues going on in his head. I traipsed back to college (just 5 minutes away; TCD can't be beat for location) thoughtfully and a bit miserably. Just in the right mood, in fact, for some serious studying of 19th century literature.

I've got to go to the gallery more often. While this was a paid show, the main collection is free to see and it's a lovely, quiet, contemplative space. I don't know a lot about art but I like the atmosphere.

...but right now it's in a good way.

Yesterday, I hung out with Saoirse and her Mom, who is supernice. Almost as nice as my own. She took us to the Botanic Gardens . I'd been happy enough to go but had suspected it wouldn't really be my sorta thing but, I have to say, they were gorgeous. I had not expected those huge glasshouses of tropical and desert plants. I have a soft spot for carnivorous plants (the provincial plant of Newfoundland and Labrador is an insect eater)and there was even a section of those.

But what was really cool was that there was a big exhibition on, Sculpture in Context. So hidden among the plants, inside and outside, were all these amazing works of art.

After the gardens and the Casino Marino I thought that the day was over, but Wonderful Saoirse's Mom took us both out to eat in town. She insisted on paying for everything. She said, "You'll be able to pay for me when you graduate and get a job." Well, hopefully!

Anyway, she took us to this place that I would NEVER be able to afford myself, not even on a good month but that maybe I can persuade my folks to take me to when they are over for Xmas. The Pigs Ear. Check it out. It's actually not that expensive, as restaurants go, but I ate SO MUCH that I ended up feeling a bit embarrassed about my part of the bill :-p

Gosh, she is one nice lady. She's like an older, softer version of Saoirse and I guess maybe kinda like Saoirse will be when she's middle aged. Not that she's OLD old as she was only 22 when S was born.

It all made me realise how much I miss hanging out with my Mom, although we don't do it enough, and how much I am looking forward to seeing her at Christmas [sniff]

I've been working super-hard this week so the first plan of action is SLEEP, blessed sleep. I'm planning to go to bed early tonight and then lie in bed until lunch time. Ahhhhh.....

Also! Great news; I got talking to the PhD student I've had a crush on this last little while. Nothing much really, but I established that he's from County Meath, spent a year in Australia picking fruit and decided to go back and do a PhD because of the global downturn. He's 25 and he's "only gorgeous" as the Irish girls say.

That's as far as it got. How did I start chatting to him? Well, I was sneaky. I noticed that he was wearning an Irish rugby shirt and, pretending I wanted to buy one for my friend, asked him where they could be found...

OK, I know I'm lame but a gal has to do what a gal has to do. After all that embarrassment with George, I'm taking it slow so that is as far as I've got. But at least now we are on "hello" terms when we pass each other in TCD.

Thanks to my free tickets, the rest of the weekend is pretty much taken care of. I'm going to a show on Saturday night. Again, Dublin Tourism could only give me one ticket but I am getting used to the idea of going to the theatre on my own and anyway I'm meeting some of the other postgrads afterwards for a drink. Sunday, if the weather is OK, I'm going to meet Saoirse and her Mom and go to the Botanic Gardens. I'm not so interested in plants as all that but there's a sculpture show on there to, which is kind of a neat idea so I'm looking forward to that. Saoirse's Mom is also planning to go to a casino... just kidding! Casino is the Italian for little house, I think. Anyway, it's this crazy miniature Italian villa in the middle of an otherwise ordinary Dublin suburb. As I believe Sunday lunch is on her, we're gonna go keep her company. Plus, it might be interesting! I haven't been before but I've seen photos and it does look like the sort of place that might have inspired by dear old Bram Stoker, who in my humble opinion is possibly the greatest Dubliner of all time!

That's all for now folks! I'm going home for an early night.

Well, as I mentioned, Dublin Tourism coughed up with some free tickets to shows in the Theatre Festival.

I was surprised at first that the Theatre Festival is so hot on the heels of the Fringe Festival which ended, like, a week ago. But as there seems to be basically one festival after another, great!

Ordinarily, I probably wouldn't be able to come up with the funds to go to more than one show, so I was absolutely thrilled to get tickets to three. Only thing is, there's just ONE ticket, so I have to go on my own. I was a little nervous last night going to the Abbey which is apparently the most "intellectual" of the large theatres in Dublin. But actually, it doesn't matter, being on your own. After all, you don't go to the theatre to talk to your friends. I saw Tales of Ballycumber, which was suitably gloomy and very clever, so good job, guys! I came straight home afterwards, because I draw the line at going to bars by myself and, anyway, funds are a bit low.

I found Bepe in a thoughtful mood and thankfully without his girlfriend. We opened a bottle of wine and he told me that he wasn't sure how things were going with her. I was like, "Dude, she cheated on you. Do you ever think you'll trust her again?" and he looked miserable and said kinda pathetically that she was the first girl he'd ever loved.

Bepe's 21 or something. 22 maybe? Anyway, hardly over the hill. I managed not to butt in too much coz it's hardly my business but frankly I think he should ditch her and not just because of the dividends that would come my way in the form of no more tiny bits of lingerie hanging about drying on my towel rack. I don't like having her around: girl is seriously nasty.

So I was talking to one of my tutors about bits n pieces and he said considering I'm a literature major and considering that I've been swimming at the forty-foot and am staying in Dublin, I should really try to get more into James Joyce. I've only read bits. I like them but the whole of Ulysses is a daunting proposition. I'm thinking maybe I can just get a bunch of lit postgrads together, we'll all go to the museum and then just say we've read the book. What do you think?

I didn't think that I would be able to go, but thanks to this blog, have got tickets to three shows in the Dublin Theatre Festival.

Once again, thank you Dublin Tourism. I hope you continue liking my blog :) I am doing my best to be honest about my experiences here, the less good as well as the great so I'm really happy that you like it so far.

The shows are coming up this week so watch this space. The Dublin Theatre Festival rocks. It is hard to believe that there's as much theatre in Dublin as there is but it's true. As well as the big venues, there are theatres in all sorts of unexpected places. I think I mentioned some in an earlier blog about the Fringe Festival. Maybe it's the penniless student in me, but I kind of like these tiny venues best, as they are more surprising and you are really close to the performers. Like one in a bookstore and in a cafe.

Back at the ranch, Bepe's girlfriend is still on the scene and, aggravatingly, the failure to find a job seems to have paid dividends for her as now her father has decided to bankroll her at English School. The only good thing is that he's a very moral sort who won't have her living with her boyfriend. So she'll usually be gone after midnight, in case Daddy rings to check.

I can't stand her. Honestly, I can't. I was wearing some of my new flea-market duds and she was all like. "That's very originale. Did your professors tell you to dress up like that as part of your research?"

WTF?

Anyway, focusing on the positive, I'm gonna go read up on the shows that Dublin Tourism is treating me to and decide who to take with me. I know who's not coming.

I don't read newspapers very much, unless someone hands me a free one on the street (and even then...) but I don't have my head in the sand and I do know that the world is in depression/recession/general meltdown.

Which means that this is a good time to be a student. I'm lucky too because I have a scholarship which means that while I'm on a very limited budget, I'm OK.

I'm not going to try saying that every cloud has a silver lining but I will say this: I'm impressed by the resourcefulness of the Dublin folk. I've found out that there's been a big upsurge in flea markets, car boot sales, etc. So this weekend Saoirse and me went to check a couple out in the hope of picking up some cheap clothes.

On Saturday, we went to Blackrock Market. It's in the "village" of Blackrock, which is really an upmarket neighbourhood, so not necessarily where you'd expect a flea market to be. You go in a door from the main street of the village and inside it's a fabulous place where hippies of all ages sell cool stuff. Wish I needed a flower-bedecked chandelier. I did pick up a couple of dresses older than myself and a purple fake-fur jacket that is totally my size.

On Sunday, I went to Newmarket Flea Market which is nearish to St Patrick's Cathedral and about a half-hour walk away from where I live. The square itself would seem to be a work in progress (pretty apartment buildings one end, shabby warehouses the other end) but the market is a whole lot of fun. Amazingly, there was a dude in the corner who was a ...DJ...! A DJ at a flea market! There were stands selling cheap eats and more importantly, lots of folk selling clothes. I picked up a black-and-white jumpsuit.

Interesting discovery of the weekend: I am a great size for shopping for clothes in flea markets. I sometimes find it difficult to find things to suit me in regular stores. I'm tall with broad shoulders (courtesy of my Outport forebears no doubt) so a lot of girlie clothes are too tight across the back. But I'm relatively slim (or at least, I'm not BIG big), so fat-girl clothes don't fit either. I've found out that, at flea markets, all the average sizes sell out fast, leaving the rest for me.

When I got home, I tried on a few outfits and showed them to Bepe.

"My girlfriend would never have worn something like that." He said.

I thought he was having a dig at me and started to get offended but just as I was getting ready to storm off in outrage, he added: "She's really pretty shallow."

Bless his heart, I think he's beginning to see sense.

Anyway, if anyone knows of other flea markets, I'd love a tip. Also, don't you think it would be useful if there was a website where you could them all up? Or maybe there already is...?